Geophysical virtual machine policy allocation using a GPS, atomic clock source or regional peering host

ABSTRACT

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method and technique for virtual machine allocation is disclosed. The method includes: responsive to receiving a request to execute a virtual machine, determining a geophysical location of a host for the virtual machine; determining a geophysical policy for the virtual machine; determining whether the geophysical policy for the virtual machine corresponds to the geophysical location of the host for the virtual machine; and responsive to determining that the geophysical policy for the virtual machine corresponds to the geophysical location of the host, executing the virtual machine.

BACKGROUND

A virtual machine is a virtual sharing or partitioning of computerresources. For example, the virtually partitioned resources may includeone or more processors, memory, storage, network cards, etc. Eachvirtual machine may run its own instance of an operating system and mayrun one or more applications on its operating system.

In a networked environment, virtual machines may be allocated in avariety of different locations. For example, in a cloud computingenvironment, virtual machines may be allocated based on demand forcertain computer resources and/or functions. Further, virtual machinesmay often be migrated from one physical machine or host to another. Forexample, a virtual machine may be copied and moved to a different hostsystem to provide a back-up system while hardware and/or softwareupgrades are installed. Virtual machines may also be migrated to betterutilize available resources or in response to a system error or failure.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure a method and techniquefor allocating a virtual machine is disclosed. The method includes:responsive to receiving a request to execute a virtual machine,determining a geophysical location of a host for the virtual machine;determining a geophysical policy for the virtual machine; determiningwhether the geophysical policy for the virtual machine corresponds tothe geophysical location of the host for the virtual machine; andresponsive to determining that the geophysical policy for the virtualmachine corresponds to the geophysical location of the host, executingthe virtual machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present application, theobjects and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the followingdescriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing node according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts abstraction model layers according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of a data processing system in whichillustrative embodiments of a virtual machine allocation system may beimplemented; and

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a virtualmachine allocation method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, system andcomputer program product for virtual machine allocation. For example, insome embodiments, the method and technique includes: responsive toreceiving a request to execute a virtual machine, determining ageophysical location of a host for the virtual machine; determining ageophysical policy for the virtual machine; determining whether thegeophysical policy for the virtual machine corresponds to thegeophysical location of the host for the virtual machine; and responsiveto determining that the geophysical policy for the virtual machinecorresponds to the geophysical location of the host, executing thevirtual machine. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure enablevirtual machine allocation and migration while ensuring that policiesrelated to the geophysical location where the virtual machine may be runare maintained. For example, while a virtual machine may be allocated ormigrated across geographical borders, geophysical policies for thevirtual machine may prohibit the virtual machine (or the functionsrelated thereto) from being executed/performed in certain geographicjurisdictions. Embodiments of the present disclosure verify ageophysical location of a host for the virtual machine to enable thegeophysical policies associated with the virtual machine to be comparedagainst the geophysical location of the host before the virtual machineis executed on or migrated to the target host.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentdisclosure may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may take theform of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readablemedium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be acomputer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. Acomputer readable storage medium may be, for example but not limited to,an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain, or store a program for use by or in connection with andinstruction execution system, apparatus or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent disclosure may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present disclosure is described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forloadbalancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic of an example of a cloud computingnode is shown. Cloud computing node 10 is only one example of a suitablecloud computing node and is not intended to suggest any limitation as tothe scope of use or functionality of embodiments of the inventiondescribed herein. Regardless, cloud computing node 10 is capable ofbeing implemented and/or performing any of the functionality set forthhereinabove.

In cloud computing node 10 there is a computer system/server 12, whichis operational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system/server 12 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 12 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 12 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, computer system/server 12 in cloud computing node 10is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. Thecomponents of computer system/server 12 may include, but are not limitedto, one or more processors or processing units 16, a system memory 28,and a bus 18 that couples various system components including systemmemory 28 to processor 16.

Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures,including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, anaccelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of avariety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation,such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus,Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 12 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 12, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 28 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/or cachememory 32. Computer system/server 12 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 34 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 18 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 28 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42,may be stored in memory 28 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 42 generally carry out the functions and/ormethodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein.

Computer system/server 12 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 14 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.;one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computersystem/server 12; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.)that enable computer system/server 12 to communicate with one or moreother computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output(I/O) interfaces 22. Still yet, computer system/server 12 cancommunicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 20. As depicted, network adapter 20communicates with the other components of computer system/server 12 viabus 18. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 12. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 2) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 3 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include mainframes, in oneexample IBM® zSeries® systems; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)architecture based servers, in one example IBM pSeries® systems; IBMxSeries® systems; IBM BladeCenter® systems; storage devices; networksand networking components. Examples of software components includenetwork application server software, in one example IBM WebSphere®application server software; and database software, in one example IBMDB2®, database software. (IBM, zSeries, pSeries, xSeries, BladeCenter,WebSphere, and DB2 are trademarks of International Business MachinesCorporation registered in many jurisdictions worldwide).

Virtualization layer 62 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtualmachines, including virtual servers; virtual storage; virtual networks,including virtual private networks; virtual applications and operatingsystems; and virtual clients.

In one example, management layer 64 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement of computingresources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks withinthe cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing provide costtracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computingenvironment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management providescloud computing resource allocation and management such that requiredservice levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning andfulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloudcomputing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated inaccordance with an SLA. Service level management may also includevirtual machine allocation and management such that the migration and/orexecution of virtual machine resources (e.g., various workload orapplication processing) complies with the geophysical host location.

Workloads layer 66 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtualclassroom education delivery; data analytics processing; transactionprocessing; and mobile desktop functions.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative embodiment of a system 400 for virtual machineallocation. System 400 may be implemented on data processing systems orplatforms such as, but not limited to, node 10 or at other dataprocessing system locations. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4,system 400 comprises a network environment 404 including hosts 410 and412 connectable to each other via a network 420. Any number of networktopologies may be used for network 420 such as, but not limited to, ahigh speed point-to-point bus, a LAN, a WAN, and combinations thereof.Hosts 410 and 412 may be physically located in close proximity to eachother or remotely located. Hosts 410 and 412 may comprise servers,workstations, or other types of computing platforms (e.g., such as node10 as depicted in FIG. 1). Accordingly, as will be discussed in furtherdetail below, hosts 410 and 412 may include a processing device (e.g.,CPU) capable of reading and executing instructions, running a variety oftypes of applications, and operate and/or serve as a web server, etc.Hosts 410 and 412, including various functions provided thereby, may beprovisioned as a cloud resource. For example, in some embodiments, hosts410 and/or 412 may be accessed over a public network such as theInternet. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, two hosts are illustrated;however, it should be understood that a greater quantity of hosts may beincluded in the network environment 404. Further, it should beunderstood that the methods and functions described in the presentdisclosure may be implemented on a single host.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, hosts 410 and 412 representphysical computing and/or data processing platforms each respectivelyexecuting hypervisors 430 and 432 and virtual machines 436 and 438. A“hypervisor” generally refers to a low-level application that supportsallocation and/or execution of one or more virtual machines. Forexample, each of hypervisors 430 and 432 may respectively include anallocation manager 433 and 434 for allocating and/or logically dividingand virtualizing computer resources (including the allocation and/orsharing of one or more processing devices and/or memory) to thereby forma platform for each of the respective virtual machines 436 and 438.Multiple virtual machines may be allocated on each host 410 and 412.Each virtual machine 436 and 438 may respectively support an instance ofan operating system 440 and 442 and one or more applications 444 and 446executable on the virtual processing device allocated to the respectivevirtual machine 436 and 438. Thus, each hypervisor 430 and 432 maycomprise software, logic and/or executable code for performing variousfunctions as described herein (e.g., residing as software and/or analgorithm running on a processor unit, hardware logic residing in aprocessor or other type of logic chip, centralized in a singleintegrated circuit or distributed among different chips in a dataprocessing system). In FIG. 4, two hosts 410 and 412 are illustrated toenable illustration and description of a migration of a virtual machinefrom one host to another host; however, it should be understood thateach host 410 and 412 may be configured differently.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, each virtual machine 436 and438 respectively includes a geophysical policy 450 and 452. Eachgeophysical policy 450 and 452 sets forth information indicating ageophysical location where the respective virtual machine 436 and 438may be executed. For example, if a particular virtual machine isutilized in a bank processing capacity, the banking institution owning,operating and/or otherwise causing execution of the virtual machine maybe licensed to perform the bank processing functions in certaingeographical jurisdictions (e.g. the United States and Spain). Thus, thegeophysical policy for this exemplary virtual machine may includeinformation indicating that the virtual machine may only be executablein the geographic regions of the United States and Spain. Because ofvirtual machines may be executed and/or migrated between hosts ofdiffering geophysical locations, the present disclosure uses thegeophysical policies 450 and/or 452 to control where the virtual machineand workloads are running.

In FIG. 4, each host 410 and 412 also respectively includes a memory 460and 462 having geophysical data 464 and 466. Geophysical data 464 and466 includes information representing the geophysical location ofrespective hosts 410 and 412. For example, in some embodiments,geophysical data 464 and 466 may be manually input by an administratorto respective hosts 410 and 412 and stored in respective memories 460and 462 indicating the geophysical location of respective hosts 410 and412. In some embodiments, as will be described in greater detail below,the geophysical location of hosts 410 and 412 may be automaticallydetermined and/or derived from various types of information (e.g.,information gathered from an external source). Once determined, thegeophysical location of hosts 410 and 412 may be stored in respectivememories 460 and 462 as geophysical data 464 and 466.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, each host 410 and 412 hascoupled thereto and/or associated therewith a respective globalpositioning system (GPS) unit 470 and 472 and a radio unit 474 and 476.GPS units 470 and 472 are used to provide geophysical location data torespective hosts 410 and 412 based on a location of the respective GPSunits 470 and 472. Thus, in some embodiments, GPS units 470 and 472 arelocated in close proximity to and/or otherwise may form part ofrespective hosts 410 and 412 to enable hypervisors 430 and 432 toacquire the geophysical location data from the respective GPS units 470and 472 to derive and/or otherwise determine a geophysical location ofhosts 410 and 412.

In some embodiments, hypervisors 430 and 432 determine a geophysicallocation of respective hosts 410 and 412 using respective radio units474 and 476 and the receipt of an atomic clock signal from an atomicclock signal source 480. For example, different geographical locationsthroughout the world have atomic clock signal sources that broadcastradio signals (e.g., in the microwave, ultraviolet or optical region ofthe electromagnetic spectrum) to enable atomic clocks to maintain anaccurate (or substantially accurate) time. The frequencies of the radiosignals vary based on the geographical location of the signal source.Thus, in some embodiments, radio units 474 and 476 are used to detectand receive the radio signals emitted by an atomic clock signal source480 in close proximity to the respective host 410 and 412. Based on thefrequency of the received radio signal, hypervisors 430 and 432 mayderive a geophysical location of the signal source 480 and use thegeophysical location of the signal source 480 as the geophysicallocation of the respective host 410 and 412. For example, in someembodiments, radio units 474 and 476 may be configured to scan acrossdifferent frequencies to detect an atomic clock signal. Once detected,hypervisors 430 and 432 may use the frequency of the detected signal todetermine a geophysical location of source 480 (e.g., by usingrelational information correlating different frequencies to differentgeographical atomic signal sources). Thus, for example, if the receivedsignal is detected at a frequency known to be emitted from a Denver,Colo. signal source, the particular host may use that geophysicallocation (or the United States) as the geophysical location for thehost.

In some embodiments, hypervisors 430 and/or 432 may cause respectivehosts 410 and/or 412 to communicate with one or more known regionalhosts or peering points 482 and use signal latency checking to derive alocation of the respective hosts 410 and/or 412. For example, in someembodiments, the latency of communications between host 410 and one ormore regional hosts 482 may be used to determine and/or otherwisetriangulate a geophysical location of host 410.

Thus, in operation, in response to receiving a request to execute avirtual machine (e.g., virtual machine 436), hypervisor 430 accessesand/or otherwise determines the geophysical policy 450 for the virtualmachine 436. The request to execute the virtual machine may be a requestfor initialization or original allocation of a virtual machine or arequest to migrate a virtual machine (e.g., from host 412 to host 410).Hypervisor 430 also determines a geophysical location of host 410. Forexample, in some embodiments, hypervisor 430 may automatically deriveand/or otherwise determine a geophysical location of host 410 utilizingGPS unit 470, radio unit 474 and/or communicating with one or moreregional hosts 482. The geophysical location of host 410 may bedetermined in response to receiving a request to execute a virtualdevice and/or may be automatically determined upon booting or start-upof host 410. In some embodiments, hypervisor 430 may access storedgeophysical data 464 (which may be data manually input by anadministrator) and verify the integrity of the geophysical data 464using external source information (e.g., utilizing GPS unit 470, radiounit 474 and/or communicating with one or more regional hosts 482). Ifthe geophysical data 464 integrity is verified thereby indicating ageophysical location of host 410 (or GPS unit 470, radio unit 474 and/orcommunicating with one or more regional hosts 482 is used to determine ageophysical location of host 410), hypervisor 430 compares thegeophysical policy 450 of the virtual machine to be executed with thegeophysical location of host 410. If the geophysical policy 450 of thevirtual machine to be executed corresponds to or with the geophysicallocation of host 410, the virtual machine is executed. If not,hypervisor 430 may generate an alert or other notification indicatingthe lack of correspondence and abort execution of the virtual machine.

Thus, in some embodiments, in response to a request to migrate a virtualmachine from one host (source host) to another host (target host), thetarget host may access the geophysical policy of the virtual machine tobe migrated to verify that any geophysical policy requirements arecleared (i.e., the geophysical policy of the virtual machine to bemigrated corresponds to the geophysical location of the target host)before migration of the virtual machine is allowed. Alternatively, thesource host may request the geophysical location from the target hostbefore migration to clear the geophysical policy of the virtual machineto be migrated. If the geophysical policy of the virtual machine to bemigrated does not correspond to the geophysical location of the targethost, migration of the virtual machine is denied and/or aborted.

In some embodiments, one or more automated methods may be used todetermine the geophysical location of the host (e.g., utilizing GPS unit470, radio unit 474 and/or communicating with one or more regional hosts482). For example, in some embodiments, a single automated method may beused (e.g., GPS unit 470) while in other embodiments, multiple methodsmay be used (e.g., GPS unit 470 and latency checking communications withone or more regional hosts 482) as a means of verifying the integrity ofeach automated method (i.e., each automated method yielding acorresponding geophysical location result). Hypervisors 430 and 432 mayalso be configured to perform the automated geophysical host locationinquiry on a periodic basis (e.g., at certain time intervals) or inresponse to certain events (e.g., each time a system clock is adjustedor each time the physical host is booted).

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method forvirtual machine allocation. The method begins at block 502, where arequest to allocate and/or execute a virtual machine is received (e.g.,a request to execute virtual machine 436 received by hypervisor 430). Atblock 504, hypervisor 430 determines the geophysical policy 450 forvirtual machine 436. At block 506, hypervisor 430 accesses storedgeophysical data 464 for host 410. At block 508, hypervisor 430 verifiesthe integrity of stored geophysical data 464 indicating a geophysicallocation of host 410. For example, hypervisor 430 may use geophysicaldata acquired from GPS unit 470, a geophysical location of an atomicclock signal source 480 utilizing radio unit 474, and/or latencychecking based on communications with one or more known regional peeringpoints 482 to derive a geophysical location of host 410 and compare thederived geophysical location of host 410 with stored geophysical data464. At decisional block 510, a determination is made whether theintegrity of the stored geophysical data 464 is verified. If theintegrity of the stored geophysical data 464 cannot be verified, themethod proceeds to block 512, where hypervisor 430 generates an alert ornotification of non-verification and execution of virtual machine 436 isaborted. If the integrity of the stored geophysical data 464 isverified, the method proceeds to block 514. It should be understood thatin some embodiments, instead of accessing and verifying the integrity ofstored geophysical data 464, hypervisor 430 may derive the geophysicallocation of host 410 (e.g., using geophysical data acquired from GPSunit 470, using a geophysical location of an atomic clock signal source480 utilizing radio unit 474, and/or using latency checking based oncommunications with one or more known regional peering points 482) toderive a geophysical location of host 410 and proceed to block 514.

At block 514, hypervisor 430 compares the geophysical policy 450 forvirtual machine 436 with the geophysical location of host 410. Atdecisional block 516, a determination is made whether the geophysicalpolicy 450 for virtual machine 436 corresponds to the geophysicallocation of host 410. If not, the method proceeds to block 512, wherehypervisor 430 generates an alert or notification of non-correspondenceand execution of virtual machine 436 is aborted. If a determination ismade that the geophysical policy 450 for virtual machine 436 correspondsto the geophysical location of host 410, the method proceeds to block518, where virtual machine 436 is executed. It should be understood thatalthough the above method has been described in connection withhypervisor 430 and host 410, the method is also applicable to hypervisor432 and host 412. Further, the above-described method may be utilized inconnection with a proposed migration of a virtual machine from one host(source host) to another host (target host) such that the geophysicalpolicy of the proposed virtual machine for migration is cleared based ona geophysical location of the target host before migration/execution ofthe virtual machine on the target host.

Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure enable virtual machineallocation and/or migration while maintaining geophysical policiesassociated with the execution and running of the virtual machine.Further, embodiments of the present disclosure enable verification of ageophysical location of a host for a virtual machine to ensure that thegeophysical policies associated with the virtual machine are maintainedbefore allocation and/or migration of a virtual machine.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A virtual machine allocation method, comprising:responsive to receiving a request to execute or allocate a virtualmachine, determining a first geophysical location of a host for thevirtual machine by acquiring geophysical data from one of: a globalpositioning system unit coupled to the host; data manually input by anadministrator; a radio signal received from an atomic clock source; orsignal latency of communications with at least one regional peeringhost; verifying the first geophysical location corresponds to a secondgeophysical location of the host as indicated by second geophysical datastored on the host; responsive to verifying that the first geophysicallocation corresponds to the second geophysical location, determining ageophysical policy for the virtual machine which indicates a geophysicallocation where the virtual machine may be executed or allocated;determining whether the geophysical policy for the virtual machinecorresponds to the geophysical location of the host for the virtualmachine; responsive to determining that the geophysical policy for thevirtual machine corresponds to the geophysical location of the host,executing or allocating the virtual machine; and determining andre-verifying the first geophysical location of the host in response to aclock adjustment of the host.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a frequency of the received radio signal; anddetermining a geophysical location of the atomic clock source based onthe frequency.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the requestto execute or allocate the virtual machine comprises receiving therequest by a hypervisor of a cloud environment.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising, responsive to determining that the geophysicalpolicy for the virtual machine does not correspond to the firstgeophysical location of the host, generating an alert indicatingnon-execution of the virtual machine.
 5. A method for virtual machineallocation, comprising: responsive to receiving a request to execute orallocate a virtual machine on a host, determining a geophysical policyfor the virtual machine, the geophysical policy identifying ageophysical location where the virtual machine is executable orallocatable; determining a first geophysical location of the host byacquiring first geophysical data from one of: a global positioningsystem unit coupled to the host; data manually input by anadministrator; or signal latency of communications with at least oneregional peering host; or scanning across a plurality of differentfrequencies searching for a signal from an atomic clock source;responsive to detecting a signal from an atomic clock source,determining a frequency of the detected signal; accessing relationalinformation to identify a location of the atomic clock source based onthe frequency of the detected signal; determining and verifying thefirst geophysical location of the host based on the location of theatomic clock source; determining whether the geophysical policy for thevirtual machine corresponds to the first geophysical location of thehost; and responsive to determining that the geophysical policy for thevirtual machine corresponds to the first geophysical location of thehost, executing or allocating the virtual machine.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising, responsive to determining that thegeophysical policy for the virtual machine does not correspond to thefirst geophysical location of the host, generating an alert indicatingnon-execution of the virtual machine.
 7. The method of claim 5, whereinreceiving the request to execute or allocate the virtual machinecomprises receiving the request by a hypervisor of a cloud environment.8. A virtual machine allocation method, comprising: responsive toreceiving a request to execute or allocate a virtual machine,determining a first geophysical location of a host for the virtualmachine by acquiring first geophysical data from one of: a globalpositioning system unit coupled to the host; data manually input by anadministrator; or communicating with at least one regional peering hostand analyzing signal latency of communications with the regional peeringhost determining a second geophysical location of the host based on afrequency of a signal detected from an atomic clock source; verifyingthat the first geophysical location corresponds with the secondgeophysical location; responsive to verifying that the first geophysicallocation corresponds to the second geophysical location, determining ageophysical policy for the virtual machine which indicates a geophysicallocation where the virtual machine may be executed or allocated;determining whether the geophysical policy for the virtual machinecorresponds to the first geophysical location of the host; responsive todetermining that the geophysical policy for the virtual machinecorresponds to the first geophysical location of the host, executing orallocating the virtual machine; and re-verifying the first geophysicallocation of the host each time the host is booted.